His Only Choice
by Fragments of Space
Summary: The 10th Doctor and Rose are unknowingly pulled to the same place as the 11th Doctor. What could have enough to power to bring them here, who would risk corrupting the timelines, and what does it have to do with Rose?
1. Landing

~10~

The Tardis made a groaning noise, and the Doctor and Rose were flung into the console with force.

"No offence, Doctor!" Rose shouted, "but it's a bit bumpy!" She was pushed back into the jump seat, trying to hold on to it.

"It's not me!" he replied, desperately hitting the buttons he could reach, "I haven't done anything!"

"But you were at the controls!"

"I was only _recalibrating!_" the Doctor shouted back, extending a hand and pulling Rose up next to him.

"Then where are we going?"

With another massive lurch, the Tardis stopped.

The Doctor looked over at Rose and grinned.

"Let's find out," he said, raising his eyebrows.

~11~

The Doctor held on tight, half laughing and half very concerned, as his Tardis was flung through the Vortex roughly.

Even though he missed Amy, he _was_ a little glad she'd chosen this particular moment to visit home – he couldn't imagine her much liking this flight.

He swung his foot up to the console awkwardly in an attempt to kick an out of reach button, when with a _thud_, the ship landed, sending him flying back onto the floor, leg still resting higher up.

The Doctor pulled himself into a (less ridiculous) standing position, straightening his bow tie.

"Now then, sexy," he said, "where've you taken me, hey?"

Unsurprisingly, there was no reply.

"Right, well," he said, putting a hand on the console, "Geronimo!"

And with that, he walked out of the ship.

~10~

Rose peered outside from behind the Doctor, not sure what to expect. Thankfully, there were no armed guards, a situation they had walked into more times than the Doctor admitted.

He also wouldn't admit that that was exactly what he was looking for now, with one hand placed protectively around her waist. Satisfied no one was going to shoot her, he stepped out, allowing her to do the same.

Rose looked around. "Where are we, then?" she asked him.

"No idea," replied the Doctor, "although… I'd wager a bet it's a field."

The Tardis was parked in the middle of a green pasture, stretching out for miles, dotted with a few trees. In the distance there was a few small, stone buildings visible, and the Doctor decided that it must be a village.

"Gee, glad I've got you," Rose teased.

The Doctor smirked at her. "Come on," he said, holding out his hand and wiggling his fingers, "let's go meet the locals."

The two walked hand in hand over the grass in silence for a few minutes, before Rose spoke.

"Do you know why we're here, then?" she asked. "No funny messages on the psychic paper or anything?"

"Funnily enough no," said the Doctor, "I don't even think the Tardis wanted to land."

"What, like Krop Tor?" Rose frowned a little in worry.

The Doctor looked down at her. "Don't worry," he assured her, "not like that. More like… like someone was pulling her. Although I can't see anything around here with the power to do that, unless we've stumbled upon the first trans-dimensionally aware cow."

On cue, a soft moo sounded a few meters away.

"That would be a mis-_steak,_" Rose said, forcing herself not to grin.

He looked at her again, halfway between amusement and mock-disapproval. "Rose Tyler," he said, "did you just make a pun?"

"'Course not," Rose replied, giggling a little.

The Doctor pretended to groan. "Never complain about my jokes again… Oh hello, what's that?"

He pulled her into a run, eager to inspect the small silver looking object catching the sunlight a few meters away.

They reached it quickly, and both of their mouths fell open in surprise.

~11~

The Doctor had stepped out of the Tardis and found himself in a rather quaint village.

He wandered around casually, hoping to find a hint as to what had pulled him here.

"Er, excuse me," he said, stopping a small girl, "could you tell me if there's any sort of trans-dimensional energy magnet around here? Maybe some variation of huon particles?"

"What are Hugo particles?" said the child, frowning at him.

The Doctor frowned back at her. "Never mind," he said, ruffling her hair and looking away, "off you go then, run along."

The girl looked at him oddly again, and then ran back over to her friends.

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, scanning the air.

"Standard Earth oxygen mix, 0.3% daffodil pollen, 0.05% tar particles and 3% cotton fibres," he looked around, "English countryside, nineteen sixty six. Ten o'clock on a Sunday."

He put it back in his jacket pocket with a frown, confused, and then strode over to a small pub.

A small bell rang over the door as he pushed it open.

"All right, lad?" said the barman, wiping a glass.

The Doctor smiled. "Hello," he said, walking over to the counter and sitting down.

"Haven't seen you before," the man said, "what'll you have?"

"Erm…" the Doctor thought. What did Earth-English people drink? "Milk."

The barman raised an eyebrow. "Just milk?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yep. One glass of milk please. Shaken not stirred," he finished with a wink.

_'Charming,'_ he thought to himself happily, _'nice one.' _He straightened his bow tie again.

The barman moved away to get his drink, shaking his head as he did so.

The Doctor noticed a young woman sitting a few seats away from him. She was wearing a pretty floral dress with a matching headband, and a string of beads around her neck.

"So," said the Doctor, "you live around here?"

She jumped a little, startled, but smiled politely. "My mother does," she said.

The Doctor nodded. "She hasn't mentioned any temporal disturbances has she?"

"Uh," the girl looked confused, not helped when the barman placed the glass of milk down.

The Doctor frowned a little at her lack of help. "Forget it," he said, swinging his legs back round under the bar, taking a sip of milk through the straw he'd pulled out of his jacket.

Having decided that no one was going to be able to give him much information at all, he finished his drink in a few gulps, discarding the straw, and placed a one hundred pound note on the counter, oblivious to the surprised face of the bar man.

"That'll be all," he said, walking back out of the pub.

~10~

Rose watched as the Doctor picked the item up carefully, frowning at it.

"But that's…"

"I know," he said, inspecting it.

"How'd it get here?" she asked him, also inspecting it with her eyes. "Is it from the future?"

"Maybe," said the Doctor, before looking over at her. "Good guess," he added, with a small smile.

"Thanks," she said, and then looked back at it. "This _is_ weird, though."

In his hand he was holding a sonic screwdriver. _His_ sonic screwdriver. But funnily enough, he couldn't remember leaving it in a field. Especially since he could still feel it inside his coat pocket.

He placed the new sonic inside another pocket. "Best not leave it lying around," he told Rose, and they started walking again.

She nodded in agreement. "Do you think this has something to do with the Tardis?"

"Most likely," said the Doctor.

They came to the edge of the village, and the Doctor rubbed his head, frowning.

"You all right?" asked Rose, sounding a little concerned.

"That's…. That's weird."

"What?"

"It feels like… like the Tardis has moved. Like she's gotten closer."

Rose turned around, looking to where they'd came.

"But I can still see it," she said, "look!" She pointed, and his frown deepened.

"I know," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Lewis," he turned back to her, offering his arm, "are you up for a spot of investigation?"

"'Course 'sarge," she replied, taking it, "I am _very _good at deducing." She scrunched her nose up cutely as she spoke, and he grinned.

~11~

The Doctor wandered down another empty street, wishing that something, _anything,_ would happen. He didn't like staying still. He tapped on his legs, sighing.

"What was the point of brining me here," he said, "if nothing's going to _happen?"_

Then, at the very edge of his vision, he saw a flash of movement, and turned around. Something had just gone around the corner. He spun around, then rubbed his hands together.

With a grin, that quickly faded into wary curiosity, he walked towards it, sonic screwdriver out.

"Who's there?" he said, putting one foot around the corner first.

Then, after a moments pause, he jumped around entirely, with a yell of "ah-ha!"

His brief enthusiasm vanished as he stared at the sight in front of him.

"That," he said, voice a little weak with surprise, "was _not _what I was expecting."

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you like this so far - just wanted to say the next chapters will be much longer than this :) Please leave any feedback you've got - happy reading! x**


	2. The Krylanoids

_A/N: I wasn't planning on posting again so soon, but after getting positive feedback I thought why not, this story is pretty eager to be written. For the lovely person who asked, in my mind this is probably season one for 11, but it doesn't matter too much to the story how you picture him :)_

~10~

The Doctor and Rose walked into the pub with matching smiles, sitting down in front of the barman.

"Hello," said the Doctor brightly.

"More new comers," remarked the barman. "What'll you two have, then?"

"Oh, we're not big drinkers," said the Doctor, "but we'll take some chips – do you do chips?"

The Doctor smiled at the enthusiastic "mmmm" from Rose.

"'Course we do chips!" the man said, with a nod, before moving over to the kitchen.

"Excuse me," the Doctor said, looking down at the girl a few seats a way, "could you tell me what the date is?"

"March 20th," she said with a polite smile. "1966," she added with a laugh.

"Cheers," said the Doctor, before turning back to Rose. "Well, now you definitely know I didn't land us here."

"Why's that?"

"It's a Sunday."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "So?"

The Doctor looked affronted. "I never land on Sundays! Honestly, Rose, when have you ever heard me say 'lets go to a Sunday?' Not once! Sundays are boring," he finished.

"Okay, okay, sorry… Hang on, you landed me at my Mum's on a Sunday! Last time we visited! Remember she made that awful joke about going to church?" Rose snorted a little at the memory.

"Yeah," he said slowly, like it was obvious, "because I didn't want anything to happen while we were visiting Jackie, did I? Sundays are boring," he repeated, picking up a straw that someone had left on the bar.

The man came back with their plate of chips, and the Doctor fished around in his pocket for some coins.

Rose looked down at the girl sitting near them. She liked her dress; it was in a pretty floral pattern. She even had a matching headband. It definitely wouldn't have translated into Rose's time, but in the sixties it worked well.

"'Scuse us again," said Rose. The girl turned back around. "You haven't noticed anything… odd, have you?"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Like 'temporal disturbances?'" she quoted with a smirk, not expecting them to understand the joke.

The Doctor turned around, abandoning his chip. "Well, yes, actually," he sounded a little stunned, "how- how do you know what they are?"

The girl looked surprised. "I don't," she said, "It was just something that man said, before. He was very odd... he ordered milk."

Rose made a face. "Who orders milk at a pub?" she said, and the girl shrugged.

"What did he look like?" asked the Doctor.

"Uh… skinny, sort of dressed like a school teacher… floppy hair. He wouldn't have been much older than me, I don't think."

The Doctor nodded, standing up. "Did he say where he was going?"

"No," said the girl, still taken aback.

Rose stood up as well, with a small, reluctant glance at the hot chips. "We off then?" she asked.

"We've got a man to find, Lewis."

The pair walked down the road quickly, looking for any sign of the odd mystery man.

The streets were mostly empty, apart from a few groups of children.

"Really though," Rose said, sounding a little amused, "Who orders _milk?_"

She looked up at the Doctor, who was rubbing his forehead again.

"What's wrong?"

The Doctor looked frustrated. "It's that feeling again," he muttered, "it's like the Tardis but… but not. It's almost like an echo. One whisper and then another and then another."

He noticed Rose looking at him in concern.

"It doesn't hurt or anything," he assured her, "but I _would_ like to know what it is."

Rose still looked worried, and he squeezed her hand.

"I'm fine, I promise."

She gave him a small smile. "Yeah well, just stay that way, yeah?"

The Doctor smiled back.

There was a clock tower chiming in the distance – it was one o'clock.

They stayed like that for a moment, just looking at each other, when they heard a loud shout.

"Hey!" A voice yelled. "Get off me!"

The Doctor broke into a run, pulling Rose behind him.

"So much for boring Sundays then!" said Rose.

The two sprinted to the side street where the yell had come from, but whoever it was, when they got there they were already gone.

"Urgh, we missed them!" groaned the Doctor in a frustrated voice.

"Doctor," said Rose, "come look at this."

The Doctor walked over to where Rose was standing, looking at the ground.

He knelt down and examined the few drops of odd, neon green liquid on the pavement. He pulled on his glasses, and then touched it between two fingers, smelling it.

"Is that… no, it can't be…"

"Can't be what?" asked Rose.

The Doctor licked his finger, tasting the liquid.

"Tangy," he said. "Bit too much acid… Blah," he made a face, sticking his tongue out, before standing up.

"It's krylanoid oil," he told her.

"What's a… Kirlanod?"

"Krylanoid," he corrected. "They're humans. Well, a branch. Well, sort of. They're the descendants of humans and kastians. Bit of interspecies breeding – remember Captain Jack and his dancing? And the krylanoid's were more than a minority; they helped shape the empire. They were some of the greatest scientists, philosophers, poets… Second biggest species, after run of the mill humans. But that's thousands of years into your future – what's one doing here?"

"And they're… oily," Rose said, looking at the ground.

"Only when stressed," he replied. "Like when you perspire."

"So you just licked someone's sweat," Rose made a face at him.

"Oi! I'm sure you've licked worse!"

Rose raised her eyebrows.

The Doctor stuttered. "I- uh – I didn't mean like – I didn't mean…"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever, I'll tease you about it later – so what would they want with the nineteen sixties?"

He frowned. "No idea," he told her. "They shouldn't be able to travel this far back, the technology is _way_ beyond their time, they'd certainly never be able to pull us here… And why would they even want to?"

He tugged at his ear, still frowning.

"Whatever they want," she said, "they've kidnapped someone."

The Doctor nodded. "Doesn't exactly sound friendly, does it? They could be dangerous."

Rose bit her lip. "How can we find them?" she said.

The Doctor grinned at her. "Oh, Rose Tyler, I like you."

~11~

The Doctor stared in surprise at the sight in front of him.

"That," he said, "was _not_ what I was expecting."

There was two armed krylanoids staring back at him: one man and one woman. The woman, unfortunately, was now pointing her gun at him.

The other, who looked very nervous, dripped a few green droplets from his free hand onto the pavement.

But it wasn't the inexplicable aliens that had the Doctor so surprised; it was what, no, _who_, the nervous looking one was standing next to. That was what had rendered him, amazingly, a tiny bit speechless.

There was a clock tower chiming in the distance – it was one o'clock.

Before he had time to begin to process the bizarre situation, the woman had reached out and grabbed him (with surprising strength).

"Hey!" he yelled, "get off me!"

"One to go!" announced the woman.

The Doctor watched, trying to pull out of her grip, as the man put a hand over his chest and pressed a small black button, activating an emergency teleport, and then the street was empty again.

~10~

Rose blushed a little at the Doctor's comment, and hoped it wasn't noticeable.

"How can we find them?" she repeated. "Whoever that person was, they could be in trouble."

The Doctor nodded, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. For a second, he was surprised when he felt two, and then he remembered their discovery earlier.

"Now that I know who we're looking for," he said, "I can scan for krylanoid technology. Hopefully they've brought some with them – ha!"

His sonic started flashing. "Gotcha! This way!"

Rose grinned. "You gave me some Spock," she announced happily.

"Don't say I never listen to you," said the Doctor, before breaking into a run to follow the signal.

~11~

The Doctor took a deep breath in as they materialised.

"I hate teleports," he said, trying to catch his breath.

He noticed the woman had let go and jumped away, rubbing his arm.

"What are you doing here?" he asked them, sounding annoyed.

"No! Better question!" He rounded on the third person. "What are _you_ doing here?"

For the first time he noticed how upset and angry the man looked.

"What's wrong?" asked the Doctor, running a hand through his hair and stepping forward. "What's happened? Where's…" he trailed off as he noticed the man seize up in tension at the question.

"We're gonna corrupt the timelines," the man finally spoke. "But you've gotta help me, Doctor. If you are the Doctor…" he looked him up and down in distaste, crossing his arms.

The Doctor shook his head, waving his hands. "I-" he started, but the man interrupted.

"It's Rose," he told him, strong voice breaking a little.

The Doctor stopped, his worst fears realised. This was impossible, and wrong, and she could be _hurt._

"Tell me what to do," he said.

~10~

The sonic stopped beeping, and the Doctor shook it impatiently.

"Come on," he groaned, "trace it."

As if won over, the device started to flash again. The Doctor grinned and kissed it.

Rose prepared herself for more running, but the Doctor was walking now, holding the screwdriver in front of him.

"Found something?" she asked, still a little breathless.

"Possibly," said the Doctor, "I'm picking up something in there." He nodded to the cottage in front of them.

"Doesn't look very alien," commented Rose.

"Neither do I," the Doctor pointed out. He put the screwdriver in his pocket.

"Come on," he said to Rose, leading her up the path to the house.


	3. Three Faces

~10~

The Doctor knocked at the cottage door twice, but there was no response. Rose peered in through one of the windows.

"I can't see anything," she said. "'S'all dark – I don't think anyone's home."

The time lord soniced the door and pushed it open gingerly, walking in with caution.

"Hello?" his voice echoed a little in the hallway. "Anyone here?"

Silence.

"Rose," he called back, "you were right, it's empty!"

Impatient to investigate, The Doctor walked into the first room without her.

The room gave the impression of somewhere recently vacated. There was a dark spot on the carpet where a chair would have been, and a similar one on the wall, marking the place a picture once hung. An old radio had been left behind, still plugged into the wall. Without thinking, the Doctor went over and turned it on, smiling as Nancy Sinatra's voice crackled out.

"Rose, come listen to this!" he called, before moving into the next room. "Classic 1966!"

_'You keep lying, where you oughta be truthin'…'_

It was almost exactly the same as the first one.

"I love this song," the Doctor yelled out to his companion, singing along, "_you keep loosin' where you oughta not bet…_ Don't you love this song, Rose?"

_'Now what's right is right, but you ain't been right yet.'_

There was a green, metal box in the corner, fit with a small black button.

"Teleport router," he muttered, turning it over in his hands, before putting it back down again, "so where's your controller?"

_'These boots are made for walking…'_

The Doctor stood up, realizing that his friend still hadn't followed him.

"Rose?" he called again.

_'And that's just what they'll do….'_

He stepped outside.

Rose was gone.

_'One of these days these boots are gonna walk over you...'_

A small wave of panic hit him.

Looking around a little frantically, the Doctor tried calling out again. She didn't appear.

The Doctor rushed back inside, hoping she'd walked into another room, and he'd somehow missed her.

_'You keep playin' where you shouldn't be playin', and you keep thinkin' that you'll never get burnt...'_

He pushed open every door, but she wasn't behind any of them.

_'Well I just found me a brand new box of matches, and what he know you ain't had time to learn…'_

With a yell of frustration the Doctor ran back out into the street, determined to find out where she'd gone.

_'Yeah these boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do… One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.'_

* * *

The Doctor almost knocked over an old woman, who was walking her dog, in his haste to reach her.

"Sorry," he said, sounding puffed, "but you haven't seen a blonde girl have you? 'Bout this high, quite pretty, wearing a purple shirt?"

The lady shook her head. "I'm sorry dear," she said, "but the only other person I've seen today is Mr Michaels down at the butchers."

He nodded, still catching his breath. "Right, thanks anyway," he said, and began his run down the street again.

Usually he would have been far calmer about the situation, muttered something about wandering off and called out for a few more times (probably sounding like a lost puppy), but there were too many worrying, confusing things happening in this village. He ran through them in his head…

1. Them getting pulled here in the first place.

2. His sonic screwdriver.

3. That cry for help.

4. The fact that the alien technology he'd found was a teleport router, which meant that there could be aliens popping in and out all over the place – as long as they were in range, of course. That did help to explain why they didn't reach the mystery shouter in time…

5. That odd echoing in his head, which still wouldn't go away. In fact, it was getting worse. And it was very confusing. He'd had a stronger link to the TARDIS ever since his regeneration; he supposed it was a side effect of taking in the time vortex from Rose. But now the link was confused, as if it was bouncing around, deflecting off things… It sounded as if there was more than one whisper, and it was giving him a headache. The Doctor hypothesised that his link would become normal again when he next regenerated, and for the first time, that didn't disappoint him.

The Doctor could have accepted all of these mysteries fairly well, been intrigued and excited to crack them, but Rose disappearing made everything feel much more sinister.

He stepped back into the pub they'd bought chips in, and walked over to the bar.

"Excuse me," he said to the barman, "my friend, the one I was with before, you haven't seen her, have you?"

"Not since you left," he shook his head. "But she can't have gone far, we don't have that much room here," he laughed, turning back to his cleaning.

Frustrated and more worried, the Doctor decided to go back to the TARDIS.

Rose still had her key with her. Maybe he could trace her through that.

He practically sprinted over the field, not wanting to waste anymore time. He closed the door behind him quickly, walking up to the console.

"I should have waited for her to come in," he muttered to himself, "I should have gone out and checked on her…"

The Doctor pulled out his own TARDIS key, and was about to use it to get to work, when there was a knock at the door.

Surprised, he walked back down the ramp and opened it. As he pulled it open, he couldn't help but say a hopeful "Rose?"

The door swung open the rest of the way, and the Doctor's eyebrows flew up.

Standing in the doorway, looking back at him with an apologetic grimace was the very last face he expected to see… His own.

~11~

"Tell me what to do," the Doctor said.

The tough looking man in front of him nodded, and walked closer to him.

"We were on Castellan Prime," said the man in his thick accent, "wanted her to see the human empire in all it's glory… but there was a bit of trouble with this woman, Aurelia. She'd stolen technology, done experiments on other species. She worked out a way to see timelines, see what was fixed and in flux, all the possibilities."

The Doctor's mouth went dry. "Like a Time Lord," he said quietly.

The other man nodded gravely for a moment, before breaking into a smile. "Stopped 'er, don't worry. But she took Rose," the smile vanished again. "She saw her timeline before I took it out of her… Wanted to… to study 'er."

The Doctor saw his hands clench, and felt his own start to do the same.

"But she must have got it wrong, must have thought she was in the wrong time, 'cause the way she was talking 'bout Rose," he continued, "'s like something that hasn't happened to 'er yet. I mean, why would she wanna study an ordinary human?"

The Doctor swallowed, moving his long fingers anxiously, not wanting to reveal the future. The future of Rose Tyler, the ordinary (though of course, she'd never been ordinary to him) girl who'd stared into the time vortex and become a goddess. The woman who'd brought life and death, who'd seen all of time and space, and had still stopped to kiss him.

That was the future Aurelia must have seen. The future she'd mistaken for Rose's past.

He couldn't reveal that.

But the man in front of him, angrier and far more scared than he was willing to let on, deserved to know something. He would need something. The Doctor knew that, because he remembered being him.

The ninth Doctor waited for his response.

"Well?" he said, patience cracking under the strain of his fear, "why has she been taken from me?"

"Something happens," the older Doctor replied slowly, "in the future."

The leather-clad man rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I worked that out already, thanks."

The eleventh Doctor frowned. He'd forgotten how abrasive he could be in that form. But he knew he should be patient. After all, he'd just lost Rose. And they could both feel that this wasn't meant to happen. The older Doctor's lack of memory of this was testament to that.

He hesitated, not sure what he could reveal.

"I don't how much I can tell you," he said, voice quiet, "but Rose changes. She's safe, we protect her, but she does change." He annunciated every word slowly, putting light pressure of each syllable, trying to stress importance in each one.

His past self frowned. "How?"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, looking away. "I can't tell you," he said quickly, "you know that."

He saw his old body look him up and down again, the same disapproving frown as before.

"How much older are you?" he asked, crossing his arms.

He gave a small smile to his past. "Quite a bit," he said softly.

"Is Rose," the younger man hesitated, "is – is she still with you?"

The small smile became sadder, and the older Doctor looked at his feet for a second, before meeting his past eyes again.

"No," he said, honestly.

The other version of him looked down at his own, much larger feet, and put his hands in his pockets, before meeting his future eyes, mimicking the other man unintentionally. Then he nodded.

"She wouldn't leave me," he said. It was a statement, not a question.

The eleventh Doctor, knowing this was going into dangerous territory, spun around to face the two other people in the room. He didn't want to say anything about Rose's departure, partially because it still, somehow, stung, and partially because he wouldn't put it past himself to try and change it, and that might stop her from getting her forever with the other him.

"Now," he said, once more full of energy, "would someone like to explain how you two got here?"

"They were with me," the northern Doctor said, walking forward to stand next to him, "not that I wanted them there," he added gruffly.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Like I told you back on Castellan, Doctor," she said, "the C.P.C.A has been trailing Aurelia for years – we weren't about to stay behind and let you make a citizen's arrest!"

The younger Doctor rolled his eyes back, crossing his arms again.

Eleven noticed for the first time that the two aliens were wearing matching green uniforms.

"C.P.C.A?" he questioned.

"Castellan Prime Central Authority," the nervous looking man said, "I'm Tithos, and this Katia."

"I'm the Doctor," he responded, straightening his bow tie and stepping forward.

"You'd be better taking it off," the other Doctor commented, looking at the piece of fabric in distain.

"Oh, come on, _U-Boat captain_," replied his future self, "I look cool."

"You're really both the Doctor?" asked Tithos, looking amazed. "I thought he was winding me up."

"Nope," replied the Doctor, "same man. I'm just a bit older."

"Older?" Kastia smirked. "You look younger than me!"

"I _am_ looking good," he said smugly.

He turned back to his past self. "You still haven't explained how I can help."

Nine nodded. "Aurelia might not be able to see timelines anymore, but she still has a lot of stolen technology from the Time Agency. She's using it to somehow hide outside of time… My ship managed to trace her back here, but we couldn't get any further than that."

"You need help working it out."

"And I'm a genius, me, so I figured there was only one other person smart enough."

Eleven smoothed down his jacket smugly. "I am a genius," he agreed.

"I got the TARDIS to pull you 'ere," his other self continued, "the signal got a bit confused for a while, like it was splitting in two - I was worried she might not have done it."

"Never underestimate that ship."

Nine smiled proudly, agreeing, before his expression shifted, remembering their purpose. "So," he said, "since she did succeed, we need to bring your TARDIS closer to us… Katia reckons she saw you arrivin' on the field, an' that's not too far away, shouldn't take long… By the way, did you find my sonic screwdriver? Baby face over there dropped it out there when we arrived," he nodded at Tithos, who squirmed uncomfortably.

The other man frowned, confused.

"No," he said, taking a few nervous, awkward steps, "I landed in the village."

The other Doctor frowned back.

Katia looked between them with concern. "Hang on a minute," she said, "you said the signal split in two… Could that mean?"

The eleventh Doctor turned to her with an expression between amusement and apprehension.

"Big ears over there brought someone else to the party," he said.

Nine looked embarrassed for a second, then straightened his leather jacket, running towards the door.

"Where are you going?" his older self called out.

"I'm gonna find 'im! He can help us get Rose!"

Eleven sighed, running a hand down his face.

"This is like Omega all over again," he muttered.

~10~

The Doctor stared dumbly out at his past self, still in shock.

"Right then," the younger man said, looking him up and down, "not exactly what I would've hoped for, but better than bow-tie back there."

The Doctor stepped aside automatically; letting his past self walk into the TARDIS.

"How far into my future are you?" the other man asked. "Can't be too far if you've kept the coral."

"Next regeneration," the Doctor finally replied, putting his hands in his pockets. "So how- how did you get here?"

"I pulled you here," Nine replied, leaning against the console, "not on purpose, mind, only meant to get one… But now you can help."

"Help with what?" Ten frowned. "I don't remember this."

"Neither did bow tie," remarked Nine, "this wasn't meant to happen."

Ten swallowed.

"I've got my own problems," he said suddenly, walking back over to the console to start the trace again, "Rose is in trouble, and…"

Nine pushed himself up quickly. "But so is my Rose," he said, "That's why I need your help."

They stared at each other, both feeling even more worried than before.


	4. The Same Man

~Rose~

Rose Tyler was a lot of things. Confused, anxious, dizzy and a bit (okay, maybe more than a bit) scared. She was even a little hungry, having been forced to abandon the hot chips the Doctor had so teasingly lured her to. But out of all those things, there was one sensation that rose above the others. Annoyance. She was really, properly, annoyed. Because once again, just when things were getting interesting, she'd been _kidnapped -_ been put in a position where he'd have to come and get her. Sure, she'd rescued the Doctor quite a few times, saved his life on more than one occasion, but lately she'd been more damsel in distress than knight in shining jeans. And frankly, she was getting sick of it.

First it was having her face sucked off by the Wire, then it was being pulled away from a black hole at the last minute, and then it was being rescued from the clutches of a bizarre alien (all because the Doctor _thought _he's said 'not blue'). In between that there'd also been a dramatic rescue from the Tower of London (how could she have known that that man was a Lord?), her accidental admittance into that alien jail cell, and of course, that time when she was turned into a statue. It wasn't that she was ungrateful for these rescues, far from it ('overjoyed' would have been a nice description), but it would be nice to be a bit more Bad Wolf and a bit less helpless companion.

Apparently though, once again, the universe had other ideas.

Last thing she could remember, she'd been standing outside that cottage, listening to the Doctor shout out something about "classic 1966," whatever that meant. Then, before she'd had time to react, there'd been this odd sort of… tingling feeling… and then she'd woken up here.

Wherever _here_ was. At the moment, all she could see was the inside of what she assumed must be a cupboard, although it felt a little like a standing up coffin. Rose decided not to think about that comparison for too long.

For a second she wasn't sure whether it was wise to shout out, if it would be smart to draw attention to herself, but then she figured she'd already been captured anyway, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to give them a piece of her mind.

"Let me the hell out of here!" she shouted, banging her fists as much as she could in the tight space.

She stilled for a second, hesitating, when she heard movement outside.

"Hello?" she called tentatively. "Is there someone there?"

There was no reply, but Rose could _definitely _hear someone.

"Look, just let me out," she said, "and I promise I won't tell anyone. I'm not even from here!"

There was more silence, so Rose decided to try a different approach.

"You might be willing to mess with me," she started, "but there's no way you'd be willing to mess with my friend, believe me!"

Rose was starting to feel claustrophobic in the small space, and, a little desperately, went back to threats.

"I've fought Slitheen," she called out, trying to sound confident, "Gelf, werewolves… Oh and _Daleks! _The _Emperor_ of the Daleks! I poured the time vortex inside of his head – so don't try anything funny with me, whoever you are!"

There was a loud popping noise, and the darkness around her seemed to crumple away. Rose was standing in a wide glass room, which, funnily enough, seemed to be in same field the TARDIS had landed in, although she couldn't see it.

Surrounding her were what could have been the contents of some sort of futuristic laboratory, if they weren't so haphazardly arranged. In one corner stood a tall black column, and Rose instantly suspected it was another one of whatever she'd been inside.

There was a small, polite cough behind her. Rose spun round.

Her captor, unexpectedly, was a skinny, petite young woman. Hardly the type you'd expect to be knocking people out and dragging them to places unknown. Rose noticed the very faint green dots on her upper brow, which the woman quickly patted away with a small handkerchief. So she was one of those… what had the Doctor called them again?

"You're a krylanoid," announced Rose, hoping it would help the knowledgeable, intimidating persona she was trying to project.

"And you're Rose Tyler," the woman answered back smoothly. "Charmed," she added, with a smile that in any other context would have been enchanting. She folded the embroidered fabric back into the pocket of her jacket.

She woman stepped forward, as if assessing her, and Rose noticed the bulge of a gun in her pocket. So much for running then. As that thought hit her, Rose realized there was nowhere to run _to_ – this place didn't have a door.

"Pretty, isn't it?" remarked the woman; apparently thinking it was the view her captive was interested in.

"Prettier when you can leave," Rose replied shortly, crossing her arms defiantly.

"There's no need to be like that," the woman said, voice smooth as ever. She walked over to a small table a few meters away, which housed an old-fashioned drinks tray, quite out of place amongst modern scientific instruments.

"Do you drink?" she asked Rose, pouring what could be whiskey into an expensive looking glass. "The other one didn't," she added thoughtfully.

Rose was a little thrown by her pleasantness. What kind of person shoved you in a cupboard and then offered you alcohol? And who was the other one?

She didn't answer the question, frowning, and the woman laughed lightly, as if Rose had just made a clever joke at a nice party.

"So," Rose said, "gonna tell me what I'm here for, then? Who are you?"

"Aurelia Housenguard," the woman smiled, holding out a hand. She shrugged at Rose's lack of reciprocation, putting it back by her side as she sipped her drink.

For the first time Rose looked her up and down properly.

Aurelia's outfit reminded her of the costumes men always wore in those Agatha Christie mysteries her mum sometimes watched on telly. It looked expensive, tailored and quite elegant. If she hadn't been kidnapped Rose would have felt underdressed. She was also, Rose realised, fairly young. She couldn't have been much older than her, even if she carried herself with more sophistication.

"What do you want with me?" Rose said firmly, if a little warily.

"I only want to ask you a few questions," Aurelia said sweetly, putting her drink back down on the tray. She fished a cigarette out of her pocket and lit it with a glowing green device; blowing smoke rings into the air with a satisfied smirk.

"And then I can go?"

"If you answer them." For the first time, Rose caught a hint of something more menacing in her voice.

"And what if I don't answer them?" Rose pressed, still defiant.

"Then you can't go," the woman stage whispered, before rolling her eyes, blowing more smoke.

"I thought you would have gotten rid of cigarettes," Rose said, voice still firm despite her curiosity.

"It's only agreeva compound," said the woman, in a tone that made Rose feel like she'd just been called a prude.

She walked over to Rose, looking her up and down. Rose didn't back away from her gaze, standing her ground.

"You gonna ask me your questions or not?"

Aurelia smiled. "Why don't you sit down first?" she said, gesturing to metal seat to their right.

"I'd rather stand."

"No, I think you should sit."

Suddenly, that tingling feeling hit Rose again, and she was swept back into the chair by an invisible force. She saw Aurelia hit a small button underneath the drinks tray, and with a mechanical clicking noise, two straps swung their way across her chest, holding her in place.

"Hey!" Rose said. "Let me up!"

Aurelia's smile didn't falter. "Now then, I'm sure that's much more comfortable."

Rose glared at her.

~11~

He should go.

He could go too, now that big ears had another version of them to help him out.

When they came back he could just excuse himself, say he had an urgent emergency to deal with (his past self had no way of knowing he was lying), and get back in the TARDIS. Fly away and leave Rose Tyler where she belonged – in the past.

When he'd first found out she was missing he'd acted on impulse, falling back on that old, familiar need to protect her. Like she was still _his_ Rose. But she wasn't his anymore, and now he had other people to protect instead. Like Amy. He could go protect Amy. Even if she wasn't actually in need of any protection right now, unlike… No, who said Rose was even _in_ danger? There was no way of knowing that she was in any trouble at all, really.

Except of course she was in danger, because she was Rose Tyler. Jeopardy prone. Just like him.

The Doctor smiled a little as he remembered just how well they had fit together.

But that was the past. A happy memory to pull out when he knew it wouldn't hurt, when he wasn't feeling too guilty…

Maybe in another timeline things would have gone differently. She would still be his to protect, to look out for. She'd still be his companion, his best friend, holding his hand and giggling about what he'd done to offend her mother, pulling him into a run and whispering about forever while they looked up at the sky.

But that wasn't what had happened. The meta-crisis had happened. And he had given her the life he knew they both wanted. Their forever. That oh so human happily ever after, on the slow path. Together.

And he had moved on.

So really, he should leave.

The Doctor paced a little, fiddling with his long fingers and bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Big ears loved her, he could handle it. The leather-clad man would probably be horrified to hear the Doctor, the current Doctor, say he _didn't _love Rose Tyler anymore (even if he hadn't actually admitted he once did), but that was the truth of it. Plain and simple.

Wasn't it?

He kept pacing.

"Uh- excuse me?" said Tithos, a little awkwardly.

"Hello, yes, what is it?" The Doctor said, torn between being charming and dismissive.

"Shouldn't you be bringing your ship here?"

The Doctor stopped pacing, walking up to Tithos. He peered down at the man, not stopping until their noses were almost touching.

"Should I?" he asked him softly. "I'm not too sure."

Tithos blinked, confused and a little unnerved by the Doctor's response.

Katia rolled her eyes (once again) in the background.

"Yes, obviously," she said.

The Doctor looked over at her. "Why do you say that?" he asked her, voice still in that soft yet serious tone.

"Well," she said, "you clearly want to rescue her, and it's the only way to do it."

The Doctor shook his head, beginning his pacing again. "I _don't _want to rescue her," he said, pointing at Katia, "It's not _my_ problem anymore."

"But you're _the same man_," replied Katia, sounding exasperated.

She was surprised when the Doctor stopped, appearing to mull her words over in his mind. He gave a resigned, slightly weak smile, and flopped down into a chair, long legs stretching out awkwardly on the floor.

"Yes," he said, "Quite right."

Katia shook her head, deciding she wouldn't bother trying to understand. She moved back over to Tithos, leaving the Doctor to his thoughts.

The Doctor looked out of the window, sighing. She was right, of course. He was still the same man. And however painful it was to see her again, to be reminded of the life he had given up, that man could never walk away from Rose Tyler.

* * *

**A/N: Hello again! I hope you liked this chapter! Let me know what you think of including Rose's perspective, I know it's different to how the story's been set up so far :) x**


	5. Shiver and Shake

Ten frowned at Nine, trying to ignore the ever increasing sense of anxiety in his gut.

"What happened to her?" he asked his past self, the urgency in his voice obvious.

Nine clenched and unclenched his hands, his anxiety becoming apparent for the first time.

"She should be safe with you," the older man added in a low voice, hating that he couldn't remember this.

"You think I don't know that!" Nine replied, seeming to take offence. "You think I don't know that anything could be happening to her! She could be - she's only nineteen years old... It's all my fault… And you think that I don't know!"

Ten put his hands up. "I know, believe me I know, that's not what I meant," he said, trying to calm his younger self down.

Despite his sympathetic tone, the older Doctor was finding it hard to remain collected. He was angry with himself – both current and past – for letting something happen to Rose _again._ Deep down he was sure she would be okay, he believed in her more than anything, but that didn't stop the constant flash of images in his head…. Rose hurt, Rose dying, Rose somewhere beyond his reach... And it was entirely his fault.

"Tell me what happened," he said.

Nine nodded, collecting himself. He repeated the story he'd told the other version of him.

Ten stayed silent for a moment.

"They wanted to study her," he repeated quietly, the anger beneath the surface not quite so well hidden now.

He looked up at Nine.

"What is it?" the younger man said. "What aren't you telling me?"

"What happens to her," the Doctor replied, talking quickly, "what happens to her in the future, it's our fault. We didn't… We didn't know that she could – that she would – and I thought it was over, I just assumed since I'd taken it out of her-"

"Taken what out of her? Tell me. I have to protect her. I can stop this happening."

"I can't tell you, you know that," Ten replied, now genuinely sympathetic. It was bad enough not knowing what was happening to his Rose, but knowing that someone was holding back information would be even worse… And he knew how his past self had felt. Hell, he knew how he felt now.

The leather clad man crossed his arms.

"Fine. But don't think I'm happy about it."

Ten nodded, feeling a little sick. He thought Bad Wolf was gone forever, but now someone was trying to study it. Study Rose – before she'd even become that woman.

"What about your Rose?" Nine pressed him.

An awful realisation hit the older Doctor. Of course, he had known it all along, ever since the explanation of the original Rose's kidnapping, but he hadn't allowed it to come to the surface until now.

"Aurelia must have taken her. She must have been trying to find the right version of her."

The other Doctor caught on. "But if you know what happens – that means she's got the right Rose."

The Northern man walked forward, grabbing his future self by his tie.

"What's she gonna do to her?" he yelled at himself. "What's gonna happen to her?"

"I don't know!" replied the other man, shoving him off forcefully.

"You're the one that knows why she wants her! It's your fault this happened!"

"My fault! Your Rose gets kidnapped – what do you do? Do you go and rescue her? Go and give her a hand? Nah, you bring another Rose here and get her caught too!"

Nine stepped back, however his body was still tense.

"I promised Jackie I'd keep her safe," he said.

"So did I."

Both men stood in silence for a moment, staring at each other. They broke eye contact at the same time. Nine straightened his jacket, and Ten fixed his tie.

The younger Doctor walked over to the Tardis consoles and started setting coordinates.

"Oi! This is my ship now, hands off!"

Nine rolled his eyes. "I'm taking us to the other Doctor," he said, "we're not gonna find Rose standing around arguing."

Ten made a noise of resignation, but took over from the other's work.

"Alright," he said, "but I'm piloting."

Nine leant back and crossed his arms.

"Fine," he replied, "maybe I've picked up a few tricks in my old age."

In spite of his anger, Ten couldn't help smirking at Nine.

"Keep the engines steady for me," he said, nodding at a lever next to the other man.

The younger Doctor moved expertly, knowing that despite the short instruction his older self would let him take on half the work.

"I don't think I've ever flown the TARDIS with myself before," Ten said, voice now more pleasant, "we're a team - Shiver and Shake!"

Nine raised an eyebrow at him. "I hope you haven't said that to Rose," he replied, sounding unimpressed.

"Why? Don't you think she'd like it?"

Nine looked him up and down.

"You're a bit… pretty," he said, sounding very slightly repulsed.

"Oh, well, maybe a little," Ten said with a cocky smile, not quite catching the tone.

After spending a brief moment being pleased with himself, he looked over at the other man.

"Where are you now?" he asked him.

Nine glanced back briefly before spinning what looked like a glass paperweight.

"Been travelling with Jack for a while," he told his future self, "just dropped him off on Riser-3."

"Oh be careful when he comes back," said Ten in a tone of warning, "he gets a little flirty."

Nine snorted. "I think I've got that."

Ten shook his head, remembering finding three bottles of hyper vodka in Jack's bag when they picked him up from Riser.

"Is he still with us?" asked Nine.

"No," said Ten, moving away slightly.

"Ah."

Ten glanced over quickly at his previous form. Anyone else would have missed the expertly disguised sadness in his expression.

The TARDIS made her smoothest landing to date, and the two men grinned at each other.

"Rose isn't going to believe that landing," said Ten, still grinning.

"Better go find her then," Nine replied.

Both men raced out the door.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the late (and shorter) update, I'll be publishing another one (with all three Doctors!) later today x**


	6. The Three Doctors

~11~

The sound of whirring engines filled the air, and Eleven sprung up out of his seat. He wondered who would follow the Northern man out of the ship… Would he be meeting his future? Or maybe his distant past? An image of a recorder and dark hair flashed through his mind and he grinned, bouncing a little. This could be brilliant! He rubbed his hands together and stepped forward as the TARDIS finished materializing, door swinging open.

His hearts sunk a little as a man in a brown, pinstriped suit half-ran out, looking around. Their previous incarnation followed with the same energy, almost running into the other man as they stopped.

Both of their eyes found him at the same, and Ten looked him up and down.

"Hello," said the Doctor, with a thin smile.

His past self looked at him curiously, seeming not to feel the same disappointment Nine had had.

"Good hair," he said, nodding, "not sure about the bow tie though."

"I reckon he should burn it," added a Northern accent, as Eleven straightened the offending item with a slight scowl.

Ten smirked a little, putting his hands in his pockets.

"How far away are we from you?" he asked the older man.

The Doctor hesitated slightly. The other time lords, who studied him with matching expressions – a mix of curiosity and mild suspicion (he called it his 'investigating face'), didn't miss this.

"He said a long time away," said Nine, apparently deciding they didn't have time to be enigmatic when Rose was in danger.

For the first time Ten noticed the other two people in the room, who were watching them from the corner, both looking at what looked like a transported panel.

"Oh, hello," he said, walking over to them with a smile. "I'm the Doctor."

"Yeah," said Katia, "We sort of figured that."

"You must be the police slash hitchhikers then," he said, glancing over to Nine, who nodded.

"You're… different," Tithos said, looking the new man up and down.

"Always good to see sharp minds in law enforcement," said Nine.

Ten ran a hand through his hair with a pleased smile. "Well," he said, pretending to be modest, "I have been given the occasional compliment."

Nine gave him an are-you-serious look, crossing his arms.

Eleven clapped his hands together, seizing on the opportunity to change the subject.

"So," he said, "three TARDIS', one missing Rose – I think the numbers are in our favour, gentlemen."

"Two missing Rose's," corrected the tenth Doctor with a frown.

"She's with you?" Eleven asked, voice loosing it's previous bounce, as he realised he didn't know what point in his timeline the man had been pulled from.

Ten's frown deepened. "Of course she's with me. Where else would she be?"

"Yes," said Eleven quickly, "of course she is. Not that she is now, since she's missing. But she's not visiting Jackie. She isn't having chips in London with that boyfriend of hers and making her mum do the washing. Isn't that funny - a whole TARDIS at her disposal and she still makes Jackie wash her clothes!"

He trailed off, hoping the rambling had distracted everyone from his slip up.

Ten's face relaxed, and Eleven decided to let the man believe his implication, that Rose wasn't going to leave, that he had nothing to worry about. It wasn't true, of course, but it was the kindest thing to do.

"I always tell her the TARDIS could do it," Nine said, sounding amused, "but no, Jackie Tyler has better cleaning technology than the man with an actual time machine." He shook his head.

Ten looked between the two men. "Well, that way she can visit home," he said, as if it was obvious.

Nine frowned at him. "I'd take anywhere she asked me to," he said, almost sounding hurt. "She doesn't have to make an excuse."

"You don't do domestic," Ten reminded him with a point of the finger.

"You do?" Nine said, raising his eyebrows.

Ten rubbed the back of his neck a little sheepishly. "Occasionally."

Eleven looked between the two men, feelings caught somewhere between sad nostalgia and amusement.

The younger man had no idea how much he would change for Rose, how many little rules he would bend. He'd have Christmas dinner with her family, for one thing. Of course he'd do anything for her already, he even took her to the day her father died – paradoxes be damned, her wish was his command. But back then so much of his love - _'no, best not use that word'_ – had translated into a need to impress her, to see her grin, without also becoming a need to make the people she loved happy too.

Of course, if he was to accidentally make Jackie or Mickey happy it wouldn't have been a bad thing, but he would never have really _tried _to please them. He liked Mickey well enough, even asked him to travel with him, but he'd never felt the slightest bit of guilt over running off with his girlfriend and getting him accused of murder. Well, not really.

And then he regenerated, thinking of her as he died, and he became someone painfully well equipped for the slow path. Someone who could become a part of her family... Who _was _a part of her family, even if there were still times he found that hard to admit to. He'd defend Jackie and Mickey in the same way that they defended him and Rose – out of loyalty and, as it happened, love.

Eleven's eyes went over to the younger man again, who was looking at his next incarnation with disbelief.

"You better not be taking her mother with you," he said.

Ten crinkled up his face. "No," looking disgusted, "not even for Rose."

Nine snorted slightly. "Jackie Tyler…" he started to say, but he was interrupted.

"Oi!" said Ten, "this better not be rude!"

"You were rude," the other him nodded back.

"I'm allowed to be – she likes me."

"She came onto me!" said Nine defensively, before cringing a little.

"Yeah, and then she slapped you," he reminded him, rubbing his face as if he could still feel it.

"Anyway, that was only once – and don't remind me…" he continued, shaking his head at the memory of the first time he'd met Rose's mother.

Eleven remained silent as his mind went back to the last time he'd seen her.

_The Doctor watched as his twin asked Jackie about the baby, and she told him they'd named it after him._

_"Really?" the other man said, looking a little touched._

_"No, you plum, he's called Tony," Jackie smiled. _

_For a second the Doctor's hearts broke a little looking at them, realising that for them, this was the start of a new relationship._

_He knew Jackie thought of him a little like a son now; her protectiveness of him was obvious, and she certainly treated him like family. She actually bought him chocolate the last Easter they were together – Rose had been a little embarrassed at first, but then the Doctor had given Jackie a hug, which delighted both women more than they let on. And she'd even asked him to come to her birthday party. Well, not so much asked as demanded. It hadn't been too bad, even if she had told her friends he was Rose's boyfriend. If he was honest, he didn't mind them thinking that. He sort of liked it. __Well, more than sort of._

_But once he left, the Doctor – the other Doctor – really would become her son in law. They'd still be arguing and teasing and talking about Rose, but now they'd also have family functions and holidays and worrying about each other's health._

_They both had a family through Rose, but his twin was the one that got to keep it. He was the one that got to have a mother. _

_His eyes found Rose again, and suddenly loosing his adopted family again didn't seem so bad. It would sting a little, but he could brush it off._

_He wouldn't get over her. _

The Doctor blinked away the memory as he noticed the other men staring at him.

"Well?" Ten asked expectantly.

Eleven looked at him blankly.

"Where's your TARDIS?" the third Doctor asked, a little impatiently.

"Ah! Yes! Sorry!" said Eleven, annoyed at himself for slipping up again.

He pulled out his sonic from his jacket with a flourish, delighting in the impressed looks from the other two, Ten looking down at his own sonic with a pout.

"Oh! That reminds me!" said the middleman, pulling out the second sonic and throwing it to Nine, who caught it.

"Where'd you find it?" he said, grinning.

"In a field," Ten replied, "next to some cows."

Eleven pressed the button on his more impressive screwdriver, holding it in the air, and his ship materialized behind him.

Ten raised his eyebrows.

"That was… that was pretty good," he said.

"Fantastic," beamed Nine, "now we can triangulate Rose's position, using her key, and calculate where the time pocket is! Then we beam her out of there like it was nothin'!"

"Three ships, two keys… this is going to be easy," said Ten, a little smugly.

Eleven unlocked his TARDIS and walked inside, leaving the door open the other men to follow him in.

"You've redecorated!" said Ten, and Eleven turned around smiling.

He looked like a little kid, eager to show off his new toy.

"I don't like it," said the other man finished, looking around in distaste.

Nine strode over to the console; taking charge in the same way he'd done in Ten's TARDIS.

"Right," he said, "the controls here are a little different, but I'm a genius, me, so it shouldn't be a problem… Ah-ha! Got it! Okay, bow tie, I've set you up, pretty boy, you go to your TARDIS, and I'll go to mine – we should be able to see each other on the view screens."

He walked over to the door, and turned around when he realised Ten hadn't moved. The man was standing with his hands in his pockets, swaying a little on his feet.

Ten noticed his past self looking. "Oh _I'm_ pretty boy?"

Nine rolled his eyes. "Come on," he said, walking out, this time followed by the other man.

Eleven clicked his fingers, closing the door behind them.

He heard the other men giving instructions to Katia and Tithos, telling them to have the transporter waiting for co-ordinates so they could beam Rose to safety.

He maintained the signal his ninth form had started, fingers moving quickly and expertly, but his mind wouldn't focus.

When his last regeneration had walked out of the TARDIS his hearts had sunk, not because he didn't like him, or he had wanted to see the future, but because that life, at the end, had been his most painful since the war.

At first it was brilliant, travelling with Rose and acting like little kids, giggling and running and being, well, in love. But then she'd left, and he'd been heart broken.

He hadn't really been okay again until Donna travelled with him, as much as Martha had helped. Donna had been a proper best friend.

And then Rose came back, running towards him like an impossible angel, and for a second he'd been the happiest he'd been in a long time. Surrounded by all his friends, his family, flying the Earth home.

But then he had to send Rose away. He had to watch another man kissing her, watch her kiss him back. And he had to walk away, knowing that they would have the only life he really wanted, in that body anyway, the only one he could never have. He got to have Rose forever. And the Doctor got to loose her again.

And then he lost Donna as well. And she'd died. Well, the version of her that he loved had, anyway. She wasn't his friend anymore, and she could never come back. Never even remember him.

He hadn't been alright on his own... he had gone too far, and he knew it.

All he could do was sit in a café with her grandfather, hearing him remind him that he needed her, when he could never rely on her again.

And then, after all that, the Time Lords had returned. And he had to destroy them again.

It didn't hurt anymore. At least, not as much. Regeneration did that – it eased old wounds. It was a fresh start, a new beginning. Now he didn't ever think of Donna Noble without a reminder. She wasn't a voice in his head anymore. Neither was Rose. They were memories now, not a part of him.

At least that was what he'd thought before he'd come here.

Meeting Nine was difficult, but Ten was worse. When he looked at Nine he remembered Rose running towards him, and when he looked at Ten all he saw was her walking away.

Eleven shook his head, as if the action would shake out the thoughts.

"Focus," he told himself. Ignoring his own order, he pulled out a biscuit from inside a pocket and popped it into his mouth. He munched happily for a second. Jammie dodgers. Genius.

"Hey, bow tie," Nine's voice said, "stop eating and look up here."

The Doctor looked up at the screen to see Nine looking down at him with a slightly amused but disapproving expression.

"You got it to work!" he replied. "Nice one."

"And for my next trick," the younger man said, flicking some switches.

Ten's face appeared on the screen next to him. He was eating a banana and typing something into the console.

"Pretty boy!" said both Doctor's, and Ten spun around.

"You got it to work!"

"That's what he said," said Nine.

"How come you're not making him stop eating?" said Eleven.

"It's a banana," the other man replied, like it was obvious, "bananas are good."

"Good source of potassium," agreed Ten, still eating.

"No, I don't like bananas," said Eleven, looking at it with distaste. "A little Scottish girl gave me one and I thought she was trying to poison me."

"Oh I like Scotland," said Ten, "that's where we met that werewolf, remember?"

Eleven made a happy "oooh" noise as he remembered, moving his hands exitedly. "We got knighted!" he said, grinning at Ten.

"And exiled!" said Ten, who was smiling back.

"I don't remember that," said Nine.

"Hasn't happened to you yet, grumpy," Ten told him, waving a hand. "Wibbly wobbly-"

"-timey whimey," Eleven finished. They grinned at each other again.

"Right," said Nine, "thanks for that. Now can we get back to work?"

"Yep. Sorry," Ten said, tugging on his earlobe. He ran around his console, pushing a lever down. "I've pretty much got my part of the signal done, how are you two coming on?"

"Almost there," Nine replied, moving some buttons. "Rose Tyler, I'm coming to get you," he finished, and Eleven wondered if he was really talking to them.

"We all are," the Doctor said, before looking over at another screen. "I'm ready here!" he announced.

"So am I."

"And me."

"Oh, who's da man!" said Eleven, and then cringed awkwardly. "Just as bad as the first time I said it… Anyway, you," he pointed to his ninth form, "send your part to sand shoes, I'll do the same, and then he can run them out to the others."

"They're not sand shoes," said Ten defensively.

"Yes they are, and they look ridiculous – now go give them those co-ordinates!"

"You're the one in tweed," muttered Ten, but ran out of the TARDIS, and the Doctor heard him giving the co-ordinates to the krylanoids.

"Now," Nine said, still on the screen, "if I'm good, and I am good, we should be able to send both Rose's back at once."

"We are good," said Eleven. He paused. "You know," he said, "we could continue this conversation out side?"

"Ah. Right."

Both men left their ships and walked into the room.

They walked up to each other and shook hands.

"Good to see you again," said Eleven.

"And you," Nine replied.

"Oi! You lot!" Ten said, and they ran over to the transporter controls.

Ten was sonicing the panel, when he stopped and looked up at Tithos.

"Did you leave the router for this in an old house?" he asked him, curious.

"Yes," the man replied, looking a little surprised, "we figured no one would go in."

"I like exploring," said the Doctor, as Ten turned back to the panel.

"Ah-ha!" he said. "Got it!"

Nine grinned. "What are you waiting for?" he said. "Beam her back!"

Eleven froze for a second, hearts racing. He was actually going to see Rose again. The last time he'd seen her she hadn't known who he was yet, but now… Now she'd know him. She wouldn't recognise him though. He could lie to her; say he was hundreds and hundreds of years into the future.

No, he couldn't lie to her. He'd only ever lied to her to save her life, and it had broken his hearts then. But what if she asked him where she was? The Doctor knew his past selves were only easy to subdue because they were scared to look at the future, but Rose wasn't like that. She would want to know. She would ask. What could he tell her?

He clenched his hands as he saw Ten finish pressing the right buttons.

There was a crackling sound, and a young girl materialized in front of them.

~10~

"Rose!" his past self said, running over and sweeping her up in a huge hug.

"Doctor!" she replied, grinning in relief at their reunion as she threw her arms around him.

She went to move away from him, but Nine held onto her for a little longer.

Rose laughed in his arms, oblivious to the pained look on the faces of the other men.

"Missed me then," she said, finally managing to pull away.

"I always say don't wander off," he said, trying and failing to sound stern.

His face looked concerned as he ran a hand over her cheek. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," said Rose, "don't worry about me. She just scanned me a few times, asked these weird questions… then she put me in this… Well actually I don't know what it was. It felt like a cupboard. It was all... black. And then I sorta fell asleep."

"Probably a stasis chamber," Nine told her, frowning. For a second there was a hint of anger in his eyes, and then it vanished.

He grinned at her again. "Rose Tyler," he said, enjoying each syllable.

Rose smiled up at him. "How'd you find me?" she asked, as he took her hand in his, running his thumb over her skin affectionately.

Nine tilted his head to the four other people. "They helped."

The tenth Doctor stared at her, unable to look away even if he'd wanted to. She seemed noticeably younger than his Rose, even though they were only a little over a year apart. Her hair was still long, and she was wearing the union jack shirt she'd tried out the night they met Jack. He fought the urge to run over and hug her.

"Hello again," Rose said, giving Katia and Tithos a small wave.

Her eyes fell on the two strangers. She frowned for half a second; a little amused by the younger man's outfit, but then smiled.

"I'm Rose," she told them, "Rose Tyler. Who are you?"

The Doctor's hearts clenched painfully. Of course she wouldn't recognise him. It shouldn't bother him. But, predictably, it did. He could see his future self tense a little beside him, and figured he must feel the same.

"I-" he hesitated, stuttering a little.

"Rose," said Nine, turning her to face him as he took her other hand, "I have to explain something."

She frowned at him, confused. "Okay..."

"Time lords have this nifty little trick," he began, "it's a way of cheatin' death."

Rose didn't interrupt, biting her lip as she listened.

"When I'm about to die-"

"You're not are you?" Rose said quickly, eyes wide.

Nine smiled down at her. "Don't worry," he said, "I'm fine."

Rose sighed in relief, and he continued.

"When I'm about to die, I can regenerate. Repair all the cells in my body."

She nodded. "Okay," she said, "that's… alien."

"That alright?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling at the reference to their first conversation.

Ten felt an odd surge of jealousy as Rose stood there smiling up at someone else. Obviously that was ridiculous, it was him she was looking at, even if she didn't even know it yet, but still…

"Good," Nine continued, interrupted his thoughts. "Anyway, it doesn't just repair the cells, it changes them."

Rose bit her lip, not understanding. "What'd you mean?"

"I'm still the same man," Nine explained gently, "all my memories, all my feelings, they stay. But my body changes. My face changes. I'm a new man, but the same one at the same time."

Rose shook her head. "That's… crazy," she said. "Are you winding me up?"

Nine rolled his eyes. "'Course I'm not! Those two over there, pretty boy and bow tie, they're me. But from the future. They're the versions of me that live on after this one dies."

Rose looked over at the other men in amazement.

"Seriously?" she asked them. "You're… you're both the Doctor?"

Ten smiled at her. "Hello," he said.

"Hello," she replied softly, still looking slightly dumb struck.

She looked over to Eleven.

"And you're him as well?" she asked, trying to rap her head around it.

"Afraid so," he replied, shrugging a little. He ran a hand through his hair.

"But you're so... you're so young!" Rose said, before looking back to Ten. "And you're… I don't even know," she shook her head again. "This is weird."

She turned back to her Doctor. "That's alien," she repeated herself.

"Is that alright?" he asked her again. This time she could hear a hint of concern in his voice, as if he was worried he might have scared her away.

"'Course," she said, smiling up at him weakly, still in shock.

"Fantastic," he beamed at her. Rose couldn't help beaming back.

Nine pulled her over to the other two, finally dropping her hand as they reached them.

"Right," he said, "let's beam the other Rose over."

"Wait, what? There's another me?"

"My Rose got taken as well," said Ten, not looking at her as he soniced the panel.

"Your Rose," she repeated.

"I can't get a lock," he said, frowning. "It keeps slipping! No, stop it!"

Nine pulled out his own screwdriver and pointed it at the panel. "Take two," he said, "two sonics should handle it."

Ten hit the side of the panel in frustration. "Why can't we get a lock?"

Katia pushed Rose out of the way and examined it. "I don't understand," she said, "its state of the art – we were the first division to get it – how can it not be working?"

"She must have her in some sort of holding cell – oh that woman does not know who she's messing with," muttered Ten angrily.

Eleven pulled out his own sonic, and all three of the Doctor's tried to focus the signal. After a few seconds the panel sparked and flared, and Ten dropped it quickly, rubbing his hand.

"I just told you that was new!" said Katia.

"The router might not have blown," Tithos said, "we could still find the signal."

"We'll have to trace it in the TARDIS," the Doctor said, still rubbing his hand. "You two go find your router, the rest of you come with me – we're taking my ship."

Eleven nodded, still surprisingly quiet, and went inside the TARDIS.

The Doctor gestured for the other two to go first, and Rose gave him a shy smile as Nine pulled her inside, holding her hand once again.

"It looks the same!" he heard her say, and smiled.

Ten followed, closing the door, and ran up the ramp.

"Right then," he said, "Allons-y!"

The three Doctor's got to work retracing the signal as Rose sat watching them in amazement. A few minutes past, and then she spoke again.

"For you to change, you have to be dying, is that right?"

"Yep," answered Nine, not looking over.

"And you two are future versions of my Doctor, yeah?"

"Yep," Ten repeated his past self, not looking at her. "I'm the next one, and bow tie is… Well, he's one of the one's after that. Actually," he looked over at Eleven, "you never said when you were."

Everyone looked at him expectantly.

The Doctor watched his future self look away from their gaze, hesitating slightly. He had the distinct impression he was trying to hide something, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was. But his curiosity always got the better of him.

"Well?" he said.

"Okay, okay..." said his future, "I'm the next version of you. So that takes the fun out of that regeneration."

Ten frowned. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Didn't want to spoil the surprise," he said, voice pleasant, but clearly restrained.

"Right, fantastic, now we've sorted that out," said Nine, "why don't we start flying this thing?"

Ten, remembering his Rose was still in danger, moved back quickly.

Rose studied the scene curiously. Now that they were talking it was odd how _alike_ they were, even when they seemed so different on the surface.

Then she remembered what she'd been trying to ask before.

"You're both from the future," she said again.

Ten looked over at her. "I thought you would have gotten it by now."

She frowned at him. "You're still rude then," she said.

He grinned at her, delighted by the familiar banter.

Rose ignored his smile, looking at her Doctor. As her eyes travelled over to his past self the Doctor's grin vanished, unfounded jealousy returning to him.

"So something's going to happen to you," she said, her voice wavering very slightly.

Nine looked over at her, seeing the worry in her face. "Not for a long time," he said, "I promise."

"But… you said there's another version of me with him," she said, biting her lip. "So I'm still alive when-"

Nine moved over to her quickly, flight preparations forgotten as he took her hand.

"I'm not gonna let you die when I'm around Rose," he told her.

She laughed. "Thanks," she smiled at him. Her smile faded away as she started speaking again. "But… you're nine hundred years old… I just figured you'd sort of… live forever."

The Doctor smirked at her. "No one lives forever, Rose," he said.

She looked down, and Nine noticed her lip quivering slightly. He moved her head up gently, looking at her. Her eyes were watery.

"I don't want you to die," she whispered.

He pulled her into a hug, squeezing her.

"I won't," he told her, "I'm just gonna change, that's all."

Rose buried her face in his neck. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her, apparently oblivious to the slightly jealous looks from the other men, who awkwardly, and unconvincingly, pretended not to be watching them.

They stayed like that for a few moments.

"I don't want you to change," she whispered.

Ten's hearts stopped for a second, and his mouth fell open slightly.

Nine glanced at him, not letting her go, and he closed his mouth.

She couldn't have known they could hear her, would have assumed their hearing was the same as a humans, but that didn't make her words any less hurtful.

His mind flashed back to the first night of his regeneration, tucked in Jackie's spare bed. Aware but unable to move, only half conscious, as he heard Rose crying for the man she thought had left her.

_"He wouldn't do this, the real Doctor, the proper Doctor… He's left me."_

The Doctor stared at them, unable to tear his eyes away, wishing that it were him hugging her.

_'Of course she doesn't want him to change,'_ he told himself, _'she only met you today. It's normal. Totally fine. When she meets you she'll… she'll like you just as much as him.'_

Even though he knew it was true, he still felt as if she had rejected him. Putting his hands in his pockets, he finally looked away.

He turned around to face Eleven, about to tell him they should get back to work, but stopped when he saw his future self's face.

He was watching Rose and their past self, just as Ten had been, but the look on his face was filled with more longing, and a different sort of sadness – one that seemed to be deeper.

The Doctor frowned, and Eleven noticed he wasn't being ignored anymore.

He smiled at the other man, pulling a biscuit out of his jacket.

"Jammie dodger?" he asked.

Ten looked down at the biscuit, and then back up to the man's face. "Let's just find Rose," he said, still not brave enough to ask what he really wanted to know.

~9~

The Doctor held onto Rose tightly, unaware of his other selves eyes on them. He wanted to try and assure her that he would still be the same, no matter what happened, that he would still care about her, but he didn't know how to.

So instead, he just kept hugging her.

"I don't want you to change," she whispered.

He felt a swell of affection for her, dampened slightly by the knowledge that the other men must have heard her.

He glanced up at Ten, meaning to give him a reassuring look, but was caught off guard by the almost pathetic expression on his face, and averted his eyes again.

Part of him thought that his future self was being ridiculous, looking like an abandoned puppy when Rose was really hugging both of them, but he could imagine his own reaction if their roles were reversed. Even hypothetically thinking about her preferring someone else to him was enough to make him hold onto her a little tighter.

Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed the other Doctor's were getting ready for flight, and he reluctantly moved away from Rose.

He looked down at her, making sure she was okay. Satisfied with the small smile and nod she gave him, he sprung up to help the other men.

"You traced the signal, then?" he said, starting to push and pull various levels.

"Yep," said Ten, not looking at him, "without any help from you."

"I was busy," the Doctor replied, voice a little lower than previously.

The other man shot him a dark look before staring down at the console again.

Eleven glanced over at his past self, frowning. He looked up at Nine.

"No time pocket is sneaky enough to stop us," he said, trying to improve the atmosphere.

Ten ignored the comment, and concentrated on his part of the flying.

Nine frowned at the man, previous sympathy gone. Now he was just being juvenile. His Rose had brought Adam on to the TARDIS, and he hadn't ever been this rude.

Of course, Adam, who fainted almost as soon as they walked onto Satellite 5, turned out to be more of an embarrassment to her than a potential boyfriend. But the point still stood.

He felt Rose walk up next to him, and automatically moved to take her hand, even when he was trying to co-pilot a time machine.

Rose, however, walked past him and over to Eleven, who was eating yet another biscuit, brushing crumbs off his tweed jacket before spinning the paperweight like control.

"Hello," she said, smiling a little shyly at him.

She had been planning on talking to the next Doctor initially, but she didn't like to think about him replacing the man she knew – anyway, he seemed to be being oddly grumpy at the moment.

The Doctor looked up, surprised she was talking to him.

"Rose Tyler," he said, smiling at her.

There was something else in his eyes, it might have been grief, but it was too well hidden for Rose to pinpoint it.

"You look like you're my age," she said, laughing in spite of her worry for her own Doctor.

"I promise I'm not," he said, eyes twinkling a little.

Rose smiled at him again.

Nine watched their interaction curiously, glancing up at them as he continued his co-piloting.

"So, do you always keep food in your pockets?" she asked him. "Do you have another banana in there as well? 'Always bring a banana to a party?'"

He looked slightly disgusted. "No. No bananas. Bananas are evil, Rose," he pointed at her, as if he had just given her very important information.

Rose smiled that tongue in teeth smile of hers, laughing at him and shaking her head, and for a second he looked as if he might melt.

Nine empathised. It was a good smile.

The TARDIS lurched suddenly, and Rose clung onto Eleven to stop herself from falling.

"Sorry," said Nine, "that was us! Takes a bit of force to enter a time pocket!"

Rose's hands were still on the future Doctor, and he looked up at her with an expression she didn't quite understand. Then suddenly, without warning, he was hugging her tightly.

Rose laughed again, slightly shocked by the unexpected move, but hugged him back. When she pulled away his eyes were twinkling in the same way. It was so familiar, but at the same time so different.

The Doctor watched, unsure how to feel, as his future self put a hand on Rose's face, stroking her cheek softly.

At first she seemed a little startled by his tenderness, but then, recognising the familiar gesture, put her hand on his and smiled.

Eleven muttered something in a language Rose was surprised she couldn't understand, and Nine couldn't help but smile to himself, remembering the sound of the words.

_"You look beautiful."_

Ten muttered something, and Nine looked over to see him still pouting grumpily. He rolled his eyes. How did Rose ever put up with this version of him?

The TARDIS lurched again violently, and all four of them were thrown onto the floor.

Nine and Ten landed on their backs next to each other, but the others were obscured from view.

"Is everyone alright?" called Ten, apparently snapped out of his sulking. "Doctor? Rose?" the last name was said with far more concern.

"We're fine over here!" Eleven called back, and Nine saw Ten's pout reappear for a second, but thankfully he seemed to brush it away this time.

"Fantastic," said Nine, pulling the other man up with him, as the other Doctor helped Rose up on the other side of the console.

The three time lords, and one human, looked at the door at the same time.

"Well boys," said Rose, disguising her nervousness, "now it's my turn to meet the future."

* * *

**Hello everyone! I thought I'd better give you a long chapter to make up for my awful lack of updates - I've been having the worlds most annoying computer problems. Please let me know what you think :) x**


	7. Bargaining

~9~

The Doctor caught Rose's eye and smiled at her, and for a moment this was just another one of their adventures, and her life (well, future life) wasn't on the line.

She grinned back at him, but he could see she was a little scared as well. He took her hand, and to his relief her nervousness seemed to vanish as she held his back.

He could feel the eyes of his future selves on him but ignored them. Rose wasn't going anywhere for the moment, thank you very much. He smirked at the thought, and Rose raised her eyebrows inquisitively, but he just shook his head, still smiling.

"Well then," said Ten's voice behind them, "like you said, Rose. Time to meet your future."

There was a pause, and then he added. "Don't worry, she's brilliant."

"Of course she will be," said the Doctor. He didn't say it to compete with the other man, but because he knew it would mean more coming with him. After all, he was the one she knew.

Rose wasn't sure what to say, so she just smiled, and then opened the TARDIS door, stepping out with her Doctor.

Nine looked around, dropping Rose's hand as he stepped further into the room.

"We're in the field," he said, seeing the green hills through the glass walls. "We were so close the whole time."

"That's the beauty of a time pocket," Eleven said. "You could sit in your enemy's living room and they'd have their tea and biscuits right next to you – just a _second_ out of sync..."

"Where's Rose?" Ten asked, and the Doctor turned to see a worried expression on the man's face.

"Right here," said Rose, before realising that it wasn't her he was asking about, and feeling rather stupid. "Sorry…" she trailed off, feeling her cheeks blush a little.

"Don't worry," said Ten, "two of anything's bound to get confusing. You've got to come up with different names… Like Pete's world! Remember Pete's world?"

"Uh…" Rose replied, blushing a little.

The Doctor didn't quite understand why she would be blushing, and found himself staring between her and Ten for a few seconds.

"Oh, right! Sorry, hasn't happened yet. Wrong Rose," his next form said quickly. "And speaking of the right Rose…"

The pin-striped man walked over to what looked like a long black column, which The Doctor recognised as a stasis chamber, and pointed his sonic screwdriver at it. The outline of a door came into focus, and the column popped open. To the disappointment of everyone, it was empty.

Rose stepped forward, recognising the small interior.

"You were right," she said, "that's what she put me inside before."

The Doctor felt a surge of protectiveness, and took Rose's hand again, frowning at the chamber.

Ten ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated.

He walked over to the Doctor and Rose and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Do you remember anything else?" he asked her, voice a little strained. "Anything at all?"

Rose bit her lip. "I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I remember her… taking me… but before you beamed me out it's all too fuzzy."

She frowned, before looking up at her Doctor with a small smile.

"By the way," she said, "very Spock."

"Rose, we're trying to save your future self," he replied, trying for stern and instead sounding a little helpless. It reminded Rose of the time he told her he was trying to resonate concrete. He smiled down at her again, and for some reason a flash of memory came into his head

_"Your wish is my command," he said, wondering if she knew he meant it completely. _

He blinked, and was relieved to see she was still looking at him as well.

Ten dropped his hands from her when Rose looked up at the man she knew instead, and the Doctor couldn't help but roll his eyes at the return of the pouty face. He quickly regretted it when he remembered the other man's situation, and squeezed his companion's hand once again, before dropping it and walking over to the centre of the room.

"Right," he said, clapping his hands together, "what have we got? I'll tell you. Me. And I'm very, very clever. Genius, as it happens. And there's three of me. So we're gonna find Rose Tyler, and we're gonna find her right now. That alright with you lot?"

The other two men nodded, and then all three of them seemed to take off, running around the room and looking for any clue with almost overwhelming energy and focus.

Rose was a little taken back by the flurry of activity for a second, but then decided that she better join in.

She walked over to a rather out of place looking drinks tray, and picked up a glass of… something. Whatever it was, she realised after smelling it, it was alcoholic.

"Do you really think this is the best time for a drink?" The Doctor said, raising his eyebrows. "Honestly, humans…"

"Just wait a bit before you start insulting my species, yeah? I reckon the other me can't be too far away."

"What makes you say that?" asked Eleven, walking over to her.

"It's warm in here," Rose replied.

The three men looked at her blankly.

"Well, unless there's some kinda super ice in the future, this drink can't have been here too long," she said, tilting it so they could all see the almost whole ice cubes still floating in it.

The Doctor ran over to her and kissed her on the head.

"Rose Tyler, you're a genius!" he said, and she beamed up at him in a way that meant he just had to beam back.

~10~

The Doctor swallowed a little at hearing the familiar words in that voice – the same one's he'd said before sending her away. Right before she became the Bad Wolf, the very thing that had brought them all here.

That was the first time he'd kissed her. The only time he'd kissed her really, because you should really only count the times a flap of skin hadn't possessed her… He frowned to himself. Now was not that time to think about kissing Rose Tyler. Now was the time to be saving Rose Tyler.

He walked over to the younger version of her, looking down at the drink she was holding, and grinned at her, not able to help himself from finishing the smile with a wink. He couldn't help a very slightly smug smile at the blush it earned from her, and the small frown from his younger, Northern self. Served him right.

The Doctor spun on his heels, eyes looking over the field around them.

"So," he began, "they're definitely not out there, we'd be able to see them from here… And they can't have gotten to the village without those ice cubes melting. So where are they?"

He had the sudden urge to rip open everything in the room, and then took a deep breath, tugging on his ear lobe. He needed to be calm.

_'Calm,' _he thought to himself, '_Calm, calm, calm.'_

"Oh hello," he heard his older self say, "what are you?"

Ten turned around and walked over to where Eleven was kneeling.

"Looks like a second teleport router," he said, frowning.

As if on cue, a crackling noise filled the room, and a well dressed young woman blinked into existence in front of them.

She frowned. "Well that's a dreadful shame," she said, "I'd hoped you wouldn't be here yet."

The two men jumped to their feet but Nine was already there, holding the girl by the collar of her shirt.

"Where is she?" he growled. "What have you done with her?"

"I don't see what you're moaning about," the young woman replied coolly, "you've got your version of her back. Completely uninteresting that one… such a disappointment."

"Gee, thanks," muttered Rose.

"Right now you're in the hands of the most unstable person in the room – do you really want to test me?" Nine said with a mocking smile.

"Doctor…" Rose said, and the man put Aurelia back on the ground, but snatched away the button in her hand.

"No teleporting," he warned her.

"Where's Rose?" Ten said, running over to stand next to himself.

Aurelia rolled her eyes. "Honestly, boys, you're insatiable. As I said, I had hoped you wouldn't have arrived yet... I just popped back to get some equipment – now if you'd be so kind to give me that back I can be on my way."

The Doctor felt a sick feeling in his stomach, and his hearts pounded as images of what this woman might have done rushed through his head. If she had hurt her...

He saw Nine look over at him, and the man quickly held out a hand in front of him, apparently recognising the emotions.

The Doctor was about to push his younger self-aside, to go and get some answers no matter what it took, when Eleven walked breezily past both of them.

"Aurelia, I presume," he said.

"That's right," she replied, looking him up and down. "I'd like to say charmed but I'm afraid your friends haven't been very pleasant."

"Yes, terribly sorry about that," Eleven said, "but the thing is you have someone it's rather important we get back."

Aurelia's face had a very bored expression. "But it's not as if you've ever done anything with her… As far as I can tell I'm the first person to even _scan_ her, let alone conduct any further analyses."

The sick feeling in the Doctor's stomach shifted and grew, and he felt the dark expression on his face turn into a deeper scowl.

"Give her back to me," he said.

"Not now darling, I'm talking to your friend," the woman said, looking a little amused.

He growled.

"Excellent," said Eleven, ignoring him. "You see the thing is that Rose Tyler has a very important future. An extremely important one. One that I will do absolutely everything in my power to maintain," he moved closer to her.

"Do you understand me?"

"And what might that future be?" Aurelia asked curiously, trying her very best not to seem intimidated.

The Doctor looked over at Nine, whose face had the same wary curiosity as his own. What did this version of them know about Rose's future? What was going to happen to her?

Eleven smiled for a second, and it seemed genuine.

"Nothing I would have believed," he said.

Ten looked at Rose, who was biting her lip, staring at the future Doctor intently.

"What happens?" she asked him.

He didn't reply.

"Look," said Aurelia after a second, "I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement… I'll finish my research, and then I'll send her back to you. For a small charge, of course."

The Doctor strode forward, pushing aside Nine's arm and stepping in front of Eleven.

"We're not bargaining!" he spat at her, and she stumbled back very slightly. "You are giving her back to me, and I am going to let you live – do you understand me?" he struggled not to yell; pulling out his sonic and holding it like a weapon.

"Temper," she whispered.

"Oh yes," he whispered back.

He felt Eleven gently start to move him aside and pushed the man away, not looking at him.

She was _his_ Rose, and _he_ was going to save her.

"Tell me where she is," he said, holding the sonic to her neck.

"What are you going to do with that?"

"You have five seconds."

"Honestly…"

"Five."

"Look, can't we just…"

"Four."

"Can one of you do something about him?" her voice was still reasonably calm, but there was a nervous edge to it.

"Three."

"I haven't done any real damage!"

"You better hope not," said Nine.

"Two."

"Okay, fine!" she said, pushing him away. "I'll show her to you. But that's all! I'm not… promising anything. We can talk later."

"I told you we're not bargaining," spat the Doctor, holding up the sonic again.

Smoothing down her jacket she walked over and picked up her drink, taking a sip.

"Still cold," she said, sounding thoughtful. She looked back up at the Doctor. "I know you're bluffing," she said.

"Well, I'm not exactly a weapons man," Ten said sticking his hands in his pockets.

Rose seemed a little surprised by his sudden shift in demeanour.

"Not that I ever need them, really. I like to give people a warning first."

Aurelia gave him an odd look, and it was clear she was worried.

"I suppose it's only fair to show you the goods before you buy them," she gave a light, polite-sounding laugh.

Rose looked as if she might throw up.

"What have you done to me?"

Aurelia rolled her eyes again. "Pass me that," she motioned to the object Nine had taken from her, "and I'll take us there."

"And you expect me to trust you?" Nine asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It's the only way you're going to get to her." She stirred her drink with her finger, sucking off the liquid with a thoughtful expression. "I mean it's not like I care what happens to her, really," she wiped her finger on her jacket. "We can just stay here and wait for her to starve. Or you can trust me. Your choice."

"Take us there," Eleven said calmly, pulling something they couldn't quite see out of his jacket. "Or I'll shoot you."

Rose, Ten and Nine all looked at him with expressions somewhere between surprise and mild alarm.

"I don't like guns," said Ten.

"Times change."

"Not that much."

There was a brief moment of silence before Aurelia spoke again.

"Alright," she said, looking down at the hidden object in Eleven's hand, "I may as well give you the co-ordinates – you won't be able to access her without my genetic code anyway. Enter 5-8-0-9-H, then home."

Nine gave her a slightly calculating look, and then entered the code.

The sound of crackling returned, and then the room was empty.

* * *

**Thanks so much to everyone who has followed the story so far, and thank you for your feedback :) x**


	8. Surprise

~Rose~

Rose's head was fuzzy. She pressed two hands to her temples, trying to remember where she was and how, exactly, to open her eyes.

"You alright?" The Doctor's voice asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at him, and everything came back into focus.

"Bit weird, that," she replied, and then looked around.

The first thing she saw was the other two future Doctors; one of whom, the eldest, was staring at her with absolutely no subtlety, while the youngest was watching Aurelia with dark, calculating eyes. Rose felt a small shiver travel up the back of her neck, and decided to look away from him.

"Something wrong?" she asked Eleven, who clearly wasn't planning on looking away.

"No. No! Sorry! Absolutely nothing wrong. Fit as fiddle. Are fiddles fit? We'll never know. Anyway," he stopped rambling, throwing up the object he had threatened Aurelia with and catching it. He then, to Rose's surprise, took a bite out of it.

"Love a biscuit," he said, with a small wink, and she couldn't help the small smile coming onto her face. He was really rather cute.

"How many of those do you have in there?" she asked him, amused. Then she stopped, face more serious, and she swallowed. "You wouldn't have really shot her, would you?" her voice was quiet but firm.

Eleven hesitated. Before he could answer, however, Aurelia and walked over and given him a clean slap across the face. He stumbled back, surprised, and everyone else stood in shock for a moment, before Ten grabbed her arm.

"What was that for?" he demanded, as Eleven rubbed his face with a pout.

"He tricked me!" she replied, sounding offended.

"After you kidnapped my-" Eleven paused for a moment, finger still in the air, pointed at her, and Rose's breath caught in her throat. "Friend," he finished, and she breathed out again.

"So where is she?" Nine asked next to her, before walking over to stand next to his future selves.

"I told you - she's here," Aurelia gestured around her, with a smirk.

For the first time Rose really took in her surroundings. They seemed to be on a space ship of some kind. It had the same general aesthetic as the instruments in the time bubble had – sleek, modern and a little bit dangerous.

"Where are we?" she asked, voice curious. "Are we in orbit?"

"Well done," the woman answered her, crossing her arms. "Although, we can move very quickly."

With that comment she lunged at Nine, grabbing the teleport button he had taken from her. Before he had time to grab it back out of her hands she had vanished, leaving the group running towards the spot she had been rather pointlessly.

"Well, that was a little smooth," Ten said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But she can't have gone far."

"How'd you know that?" Rose asked him.

"I locked it," Nine answered, with a smug smile, waving his sonic.

Rose grinned at him. "Your jiggery pokery teacher'd be proud."

"So," Eleven said, rubbing his hands together, "one spaceship, and two women. Who wants to look for who?"

"Can't we stay together?" Rose said. "Or is this gonna be a 'Rose don't touch the baby' situation? You know, keep us as far apart as possible?"

"Nah, you were already in the same room back in the bubble," Ten said, "she just moved the older you out before we got there. Just… well, don't touch the baby."

"I'm not a baby anymore!"

"Obviously," Eleven added with a small smile.

"_Thank_ you_,"_ Rose said, nodding at him.

"If we split up we'll cover more ground," her Doctor said, crossing his leather clad arms and looking at the others.

"Rose wants to stick together, we'll stick together," Eleven announced, in a voice that suggested he was the final authority.

Rose wasn't sure whether to be touched or a little confused, as Ten looked between them with a slightly curious expression.

"Cheers," Rose said, a little apprehensively.

"Alright then," Ten said slowly, before taking out his sonic and scanning the air.

"I programmed my Rose's bio-signature into this a little while ago, it _should_ give us a general idea of where she is…" The sonic started flashing blue. "Ah-ha! Next floor up!"

The four of them half ran over to the lift on the right side of the room, soniced open by all of the Doctor's in perfect unison. Rose laughed at the sight of them moving as if choreographed, and all three turned to look at her at once, making her laugh even more.

"Sorry," she said, "you're just so... I mean you're different, but you're _so_ the same."

"We are the same," they said at the same time, before all looking at each other and scowling slightly.

Rose grinned. "If my life wasn't in danger this could be fun," she said, allowing a small teasing glint in her eye.

Her Doctor raised an eyebrow, while Ten may have actually blushed. Eleven, however, wasn't wasting time, and was holding the door open for them.

"We don't have time for this," he reminded them, and they all moved quickly inside as he pressed the smooth white button on the wall.

The lift was small, and Rose was stuck in the middle, squished in between the three men, whose faces had matching dark expressions.

"Blimey you take up a lot of room for one bloke," she muttered, and felt Ten chuckling against her.

"I'm trying not to be offended," said Nine, as the doors opened. Ten, Nine and Rose walked out quickly. Eleven took a moment, straightening his bow tie and smoothing down his hair, before following.

Rose didn't miss the roll of the eyes Nine gave his future self.

"Pretty boys," he mumbled, and she bit the inside of her cheek to stop for laughing.

She stepped forward, making to look around, when her foot caught on something, and she stumbled, arms moving out to catch onto something.

In a blur of quick movement, all three men raced forward, each grabbing onto her at the same time.

Rose blinked, surprised

"Uh- cheers," she stuttered, before patting each of them a little awkwardly in thanks.

They all beamed at her. Rose raised her eyebrows slightly, smiling back bemusedly, before walking forward and past them.

"Yep, still weird," she said under her breath.

Ten walked up next to her, taking her hand. She looked at him in surprise, and he quickly dropped it, looking rather embarrassed.

Feeling bad, she smiled at him, but he was already ignoring her, once again scanning the air with his sonic.

"This way," he said, walking to the right. The other's fell behind him, following his signal.

Rose found herself walking next to Eleven, whose long legs were striding at the same pace as her own.

She looked him up and down as subtly as she could, not for the first time trying to take in his appearance.

"So," she said, "bow ties."

"Are cool," he replied, as if finishing a sentence, not looking over at her.

"Thanks for before," she continued, smiling at him. "For saying we could stick together, I mean."

He looked at her, and for a second she saw a flash of sadness in his eyes, and then he smiled, taking her hand.

"Always," he said, and she felt a few butterflies dancing in her stomach.

~Eleven~

Holding hands with Rose felt a little like a waking dream. More like a very tactile memory than reality. In his mind he couldn't help comparing it to getting very, very drunk. It burned a little, and it probably wasn't very good for you in the long run, but it felt good. Intoxicating. And he really, really didn't want to let go.

He ran his thumb over her skin gently, delighting in the tiny, almost indiscernible exhale she gave, hearts racing more than he would ever let on.

She would be gone again after this was over. That was fine. He only had one more day with Rose Tyler, that didn't matter. He didn't think he'd had anymore at all. In a way, he was lucky. After all, who else looses someone to a parallel world, and then sees them again? Twice! Sure, he had to give her up, but least he found her at all... Lucky. He was going with lucky.

He looked straight ahead as they walked, ignoring the increasingly frequent glances Ten was making over his shoulder at them.

Amy would like Rose. They'd probably be friends! He imagined them both in the Tardis – his Tardis – leaning on the console and laughing, asking him where they were going… Amy teasing him about his bow tie and Rose saying that actually she thought it was rather-

"You okay?" Rose interrupted his thoughts, biting her lip very slightly, with an expression of concern on her face.

He dropped her hand quickly, rubbing his own as if he'd been burnt. He looked at her with a slightly shocked expression, then closed his mouth, swallowing. It was too easy to want her again.

"Of course," he said, both to himself and her.

She frowned at him, and looked like she was about to say something. He walked away from her quickly, standing next to Ten, who was sonicing a door in front of them.

"Please tell me you've found her," he said quietly.

Ten looked at him with a curious unease. "I don't know," he said, voice low.

"Why did you walk away from Rose?"

Eleven fingers moved slightly anxiously for a second, and then he smoothed down his tweed jacket, reminding himself he held the cards.

"Spoilers," he said simply.

Ten looked at him, and a little voice in the back of his mind said 'wrong answer.' But he simply pulled out his own sonic, and began to help the (increasingly suspicious) man unlock the door.

~Ten~

With a triumphant clicking noise, and a rather loud beep, the door swung open.

"Rose!" he said, running inside. "Rose, can you hear me?"

There was silence. "Look everywhere," he said to the other's, voice urgent.

The room was small, and the walls were lined with what looked like storage lockers. At first the Doctors went to sonic them open, moving quickly, but they were all already unlocked. So instead the group, Rose included, took a wall each, flinging open each locker quickly.

The Doctor had just flung his fourth locker open, with some force, when he heard Rose make a quiet noise of alarm behind him. He spun around, stomach twisting in fear for his older Rose.

At first, he thought the locker she was looking in was empty, and his brow furrowed in confusion. Then his eyes settled on what was lying on the middle shelf, and he felt his hearts clench.

He walked forward slowly, and gently pushed Rose out of the way.

"That's my hair," Rose said, one hand reaching up to touch her own locks. "Oh my god that's my hair, isn't it?"

The Doctor silently scanned it, and then looked at the reading. The bio-signatures matched.

"Yes it is," he said, not knowing how his voice sounded as he picked up the chunk of hair. It looked like a knife, hacking rather than a clean swipe, had cut it of. He felt his blood grow hotter.

He wanted to get angry, very angry, but he was still conscious of the younger Rose beside him. He didn't want to frighten her.

Instead, he tucked the hair in his coat pocket, and turned around to face her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"We will find you," he said, looking into her eyes. "I promise you, Rose, I'll protect you."

"I know," she said softly, and he dropped his hands, nodding.

"We should leave," Eleven said suddenly. "We should really, really get out of this room right now."

"Why?" Rose said, looking between the two men quickly.

The Doctor looked at Nine, and a light bulb went off for both of them at the same moment.

Nine ran forward and grabbed Rose's hand, and the four of them raced towards the door, which slammed shut in their faces.

"No, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor heard himself saying, hitting the door with his hands.

"What happened?" Rose said, sounding alarmed.

"Aurelia must have assumed we'd have Rose's bio-signature," Ten said, running a hand over his face.

"So she grabbed some of her hair, and waited for us to follow it here," Nine continued.

"And then locked us in," Eleven finished.

"So it was a trap," Rose said. "Here we go again, then."

Ten slumped against a locker, trying to think of a way out, while Nine paced and did the same.

"What have we got?" the Northern man asked them, looking for a solution.

"Well, we don't have the sonics anymore," the Doctor replied, tugging his ear, "that doors dead locked now."

He looked up at Rose, who was biting her lip and looking back at him. The old him though, he realized a little bitterly.

_"Stop it," _he chastised himself internally. _"Focus on Rose."_

His eyes travelled over her jeans. Did she still wear those?

_"No, your Rose. Focus on your Rose."_

Without thinking he pulled out the lock of her hair, and held it tightly in his hand. It was both comforting and horrifying all at once. He was painfully aware of how much danger Rose could be in, his hearts hadn't stopped racing properly since she first vanished outside the house. But at the same time, she was still with him, perfectly safe. Well, apart from the whole locked-in-a-trap thing. He felt a small flash of sympathy for the girl in front of him, still looking intently at his past self. Multiple versions of one person was a headache, to say the least.

_"Storage compartment A14-7, scan initiated. Commencing security protocol stage one," _a calm voice said, interrupting his thoughts.

He stood up, looking around the room.

"What was that?" Rose asked, although her tone indicated she knew exactly what it was, and didn't like it one bit. He shot her an apologetic look.

_"Intruders detected," _the voice said again, _"commencing security protocol stage two."_

"Please tell me stage two is just asking us very nicely to leave," Rose said.

"Stage two is just asking us very nicely to leave," Nine said, and Rose gave a sigh of relief.

"What, seriously?"

"Nope, but you asked me to say it," he gave her a slightly cheeky smile, and she groaned at him.

"It's probably asking the crew what to do," Eleven said. "Unfortunately for us, we aren't on the best terms with her."

_"Level six security protocol initiated. Dangerous intruders detected. Beginning decompression."_

"Dangerous," Nine scoffed, rolling his eyes."She hasn't seen dangerous!"

"Decompression," Rose repeated, "Doctor tell me you have a plan."

"I have a plan," Nine replied again.

She looked at him, and he grinned at her.

"Not again!"

The Doctor ignored the look they gave each other, and began hitting the door again.

"Let us out!" he yelled, using his fists.

"That's not going to do anything," Eleven said.

Ten growled, turning around to face his older self. "Have you got a better idea? Because every second we're in here, about to be sucked into space, apparently, is another second Rose is out there on her own!"

_"Reconfiguring airlock position. Sixty seconds until decompression."_

Suddenly, without warning, a bright light shone in the centre of the room. And then, out of nowhere, the figure of a woman came into focus, silhouetted be the white light.

The Doctor stared, confused. This wasn't security protocol, was it?

"I don't want this," he heard Eleven say quietly behind him.

The light blinked out, and the woman breathed in, as if steadying herself.

She looked about twenty-three, but there was also a heavy, tough nature to her that made her seem older. She had straight, light hair, and defined cheekbones, and a large gun was slung over her shoulder, which was covered by a blue leather jacket.

Rose. The Doctor stopped breathing, in complete shock.

_"Fifty seconds until decompression."_

The older Rose snapped up, as if the words had pulled her into reality. Her eyes darted to the door, and the shocked Eleven standing in front of it.

"Get down," she told him, and he ducked just in time to avoid the laser of her gun, as she shot open the door, tearing it from it's hinges.

"Move out!" she ordered them, and the shocked group obeyed, running out of the room.

The Doctor turned around, looking back at her. She was staring at him as if she'd just noticed him. Her eyes were suddenly glassy, and a huge smile came over her face.

"Doctor," she said softly.

"Rose," he replied, slightly warily.

She ran forward, dropping her gun on the floor, and practically jumped into his arms.

"Hello," he laughed, surprised.

All of his confusion was swept aside as she held him tightly, and he hugged her back eagerly, having missed touching her, even for a few hours. He breathed in her smell, closing his eyes in spite of the situation. Her shampoo was different - it smelled more clinical, like something from a hotel, not the usual strawberry scent. He pulled away; reminded that this couldn't be the Rose they were looking for.

"You're in the wrong time," Eleven said, and the older Rose span around to face him, dropping the Doctor's arms. "You haven't been on the beach yet."

_What beach?_ Ten raked his mind for any hint as to what was happening.

"I know," she said, sounding sad.

"You do?" Eleven replied, frowning at her.

"I remember this," she said. "Some of it, at least. Anyway, you lot are a bit of a give away," she motioned to Nine, who was looking at her with an expression of alarm.

"You've got a gun," he said, eyes on the weapon, holding onto the younger Rose tightly, whose own eyes were just as wide.

"The gun that just saved your life," she reminded him, smiling fondly. She hesitated for half a second, and then she ran over to him as well, hugging him with the same force she'd hugged Ten. Nine softened visibly as she touched him, wrapping his arms around her.

"I missed you," she whispered into his ear.

The younger Rose bristled slightly, despite her shock, at the sight of the older her hugging the Doctor. She bit her lip as he released her, and her leather jacket rode up slightly, revealing her tiny frame.

Ten noticed it at the same time, and his brow furrowed in worry.

"Blimey," the younger girl said softly, looking at her older self, "I loose some weight."

The older Rose bit back a laugh as she walked away from Nine.

"You loose a bit more than that," she joked. Her voice sounded good-humoured, but there was a hint of bitterness that the Doctor didn't miss.

"What do you mean?" he said, voice serious.

She turned around to look at him again, and he noticed her clenching her hands, as if trying to hold herself back.

"You find it," Eleven said, apparently unable to stop himself. "You find what you're looking for."

The older Rose stepped towards him slowly. "You're him, aren't you?" she asked quietly.

"No," he said quickly.

"Yes," the younger Rose said. "That's him."

Nine looked at her in surprise.

"What?" she said. "I'm not gonna lie to _myself_, am I?"

The older Rose hadn't taken her eyes off Eleven, who seemed somehow smaller under her gaze. Ten walked closer silently, wanting to see her face. It was the picture of tenderness, as she reached out and touched his cheek.

"Is he… were you angry with me?" she asked softly. "For this?"

"Never," Eleven replied."I was thankful."

She smiled brilliantly, grin lighting up her face. Eleven grinned back at her, the first proper smile of his Ten had seen.

With that, the older Rose stepped back, looking down at a black watch-like device on her wrist.

"She's ready," she said, and Ten had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, as she slung the gun back over her shoulder. She seemed oblivious to it's obviously heavy weight, despite the almost unhealthy tint to her complexion. "It's time."

"Time for what? Whose ready?" he asked her.

Rose looked at him, smiling that beautiful smile again, and he felt like he had the wind knocked out of him. _Rose Tyler..._

"The most important woman in all of creation," she said, laughing, and then she was gone again.

Ten stared at the spot where she had vanished, and then looked back up at Eleven, who looked caught somewhere between nostalgia and dejection.

There was a moment of silence, and the remaining Rose breathed out heavily.

"Right," she said, looking at Eleven, "I've got a few questions."

He looked back at her, and the Doctor watched him closely. "I can't answer them," he replied.

Rose frowned at him. "But it's my future! I should be allowed to prepare for it!"

"Exactly. It's your future. No one can know their own future."

"But you do," she said, pointing between the Doctors.

"That's different," he said. "They don't know what's going to happen."

She walked over to him, looking frustrated. "But I had a gun!"

He grabbed her shoulders forcefully, and she looked at him in surprise.

"You don't get to know, Rose. You might try to stop it, or change it, and I can't let that happen. I will never let that happen."

She looked up at him, wide eyed. "But you said time can be rewritten," she said.

"Not that time," he said, holding her even tighter. "I will never, _ever,_ let that time be rewritten. I won't let you, and I won't let anyone else either. That's why I'm still here... I could have run away the second I got here, I should have, but I didn't, because your timeline is too important to me, Rose. I can't change it."

The Doctor moved forward and pulled Rose out of his older self's reach, wrapping an arm around her waist and standing in front of her protectively.

"Stop it," he told Eleven, eyes narrowed. "She's allowed to ask questions."

"You don't know what she could change," he continued, voice still raised slightly. "You don't know what you would be giving up."

"You mean what _you_ would be giving up," the Doctor replied, trying to work it out.

"No," Eleven said quickly, voice suddenly soft again. "Not me. I don't… It's not for me."

One hand moved up to absentmindedly fix his bow tie, as his future self's eyes stared down at the floor.

"We need to find your Rose," Nine said, and Ten felt Rose being gently pulled out of his arms.

"Yes," he said. "You're right. Lead the way."

He saw Nine nod out of the corner of his eye, and begin to walk away, followed (if a little reluctantly) by Rose. When they were out of hearing range, Ten stepped forward again.

"What happens to Rose?" he asked him again. "Is it something here?"

"No," the other man replied, "not here."

"Then when?"

Eleven looked up, meeting his eye, then walked forward until he was standing very close to him.

"If I tell you, you'll try and change it. And then you'll loose everything. Everything precious."

"What do you mean?" Ten pressed him. "What will I loose?"

Eleven sighed, and then put his hands up against the Doctor's temples.

His eyes snapped shut, and suddenly his mind was flooded with an image.

A memory.

A cold beach, salty wind... and Rose. The oldest version of her.

She was standing next to someone, and then, suddenly, she pulled him into her by the lapels of his jacket. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she was pressing against him forcefully, passionately... His chest tightened in jealousy, and then the image became clearer. It was... him! She was kissing him!

He felt his hearts flutter as he watched his own arms pull her closer. They were going to be together. He would tell her how he felt. And she felt the same way. And then he would be able to hold her and kiss her and tell her, finally tell her... He didn't know how he could be seeing this from his future's memory, when he was watching the same man - him - kissing Rose, but he didn't care. He felt emotion rise up inside of him as Rose moved to break the kiss, and his future self held her in place, not willing to let go of her, and she laughed against his lips, smiling beautifully even as he kissed her...

The image vanished, and the Doctor opened his eyes, blinking quickly.

"That's what you would give up," Eleven said gently. "If I tell you anything, and something changes, that's what you give up." He gave him a slightly sad, soft smile.

For a second he rested his head against Ten's, closing his eyes, and then his older self patted him on the shoulder, and walked away.

The Doctor stood still, slightly dumbstruck, and then a huge grin burst over his face. 

~Nine~ 

He held Rose's hand tightly as they walked away from the other two men.

"He's right you know," he told her, "old me. Or new me. You shouldn't see the future."

She nodded. "I know," she replied. He looked down at her, raising his eyebrows.

"No, really, I get it… 'S just actually seeing me there. With those clothes and that gun and… I forgot, for a second. I'm sorry," she added.

He stopped, pulling her into a hug.

"It's okay," he said, touching her face for a second before starting them walking again.

"That must've been weird," he allowed.

"Yeah," she shuddered, and he laughed. "And we've still got another one of you to go," he pointed out.

"Don't remind me," she said, shaking her head. "This day can't get any stranger. Unless Jack shows up."

The Doctor laughed. "Probably with company," he added.

Rose giggled. "Sometimes I can't believe you let him on board," she said, grinning.

"Neither can I," he said, shaking his head.

He pulled her to a stop suddenly, taking out his sonic. It was flashing blue.

"That's odd," he said, frowning.

"What is it?" she asked, peering at it.

"It's scanning for a bio-signature… I didn't tell it to do that."

"Older you did though – could that be it?"

"You're right. The links must have gotten confused. After all, it's the same sonic. Well done," he nodded at her. "Oh, Rose Tyler, what would I do without you?" he asked, and she beamed at him.

He smiled back, and then looked down at the sonic again. He held it up to his ear, shaking it.

"It's a weak link, since it doesn't have your full signature. Well, no time like the present."

The Doctor starting scanning Rose, smirking slightly at how awkwardly she stood.

"You don't have to pose," he told her.

"I know!" she said, and relaxed a little. The sonic beeped.

"Have you found me?" Rose asked, looking at him expectantly.

"I think so," he said, and then grabbed her hand.

"Run?" she asked, smiling at him.

He nodded, a new grin coming onto his face.

"Run!"

* * *

**A/N: Hello again everyone! I've been packing for a big move, and unfortunately writing has taken a back seat :( From now on this will be updated more frequently, thank you for sticking with me! Please review, it's always helpful (and just lovely) to hear feedback :) x**


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